Reporter Says She’ll Conquer Burn Injuries

As she was released from the hospital Wednesday, TV news reporter Adrienne Alpert said she hopes to return to work as soon as possible, despite having been burned so severely in a news van accident in May that parts of her left arm and right leg had to be amputated.

“From the knees up and the elbows in, I’m the same person,” Alpert told a news conference of reporters and cameramen she has worked with for years. “I’m hoping to be standing on the other side of these cameras one of these days.”

For the KABC-TV reporter, the news conference was a chance to publicly acknowledge the thousands of letters of support she has received, as well as an opportunity greet her colleagues.

“Boy, is it good to see you guys,” she said outside the Grossman Burn Center at Sherman Oaks Hospital, where she has been recovering.

Alpert suffered severe burns May 22 when the microwave antenna of her broadcast van grazed or came near a 34,500-volt power line.

Alpert will spend at least the next three months in a Northridge rehabilitation center, where she will be fitted with prostheses and undergo intensive physical therapy.

“I’m wanting for nothing except for a few limbs, which I’m going to get now,” Alpert said. “I’m going to live my life the best I can.”

She acknowledged that she was “scared to death” leaving the Grossman Center, crediting doctors there with saving her life. A. Richard Grossman, the center’s founder and medical director, said Alpert’s positive attitude helped her recovery.

“It’s the spirit of Adrienne, her family and friends that have done it,” Grossman said.

Alpert’s husband, Barry Paulk, and their 7-year-old son, Michael, brought her dinner every night. Alpert said it was her role as a mother that inspired her recovery.

“I never gave up,” she said. “I have a little boy at home.”

Bill Jensen, a Glendale firefighter who nearly died four years ago after suffering severe burns fighting a wildfire, returned to the burn center Wednesday to wish Alpert well. Alpert attended news conferences held at the center when Jensen was the patient.

“We’ve become good friends,” Jensen said. “The relationships between burn survivors go way beyond the hospital. You make a whole group of friends for life.”